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Killing of Bowie State Student Was Caught on Video

Security cameras are mounted near the bus stop where prosecutors say Richard Collins III was killed by a stranger. News4's Tracee Wilkins reports on the indictment of the suspect on Thursday, and what University of Maryland students say about the crime still affecting their campus. (Published Thursday, July 13, 2017)

The white University of Maryland student accused of stabbing a black Bowie State University student to death this spring has been indicted, and video of the entire encounter has been instrumental in the case, officials say.

Sean Christopher Urbanski, 22, is headed to trial for allegedly killing Richard Collins III, 23, on May 20, just three days before Collins was set to graduate from the historically black college. The killing that police say was unprovoked sparked discussions across the country about hate on college campuses.

The killing was investigated by local police and the FBI as a possible hate crime, but prosecutors were not able to bring hate crime charges against Urbanski, Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said.

"We didn't have enough today," she said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Urbanski previously was found to have been a part of a Facebook group called "Alt-Reich Nation," where members post disparaging material about African Americans and others.

It's often difficult to build a hate crime case, Alsobrooks said.

"Developing a motive is always a challenging aspect of a case. In this case, and in any other case, you can't get it wrong," she said.